Noreaster 2011: Burlington, VT

Hunt and Chris were down at the ‘cross races on Saturday, shootin’ photos, sluggin’ man sodas and supporting our buddies racing. All photos by Hunt Manley, here’s what he had to say about the day:

“Last Saturday Chris and I headed down to North Beach here in Burlington to catch the action at the Nor’easter Cross Race powered by Eastern Mountain Sports. Just as we got down to the course, the Men’s Cat 3 race started. Chris and I met up with a couple friends and started getting loud. In this race we had three good friends pushing hard and representing Burlington: Dan Hock, Per Tonn, and Patrick Shank.

The course was a 2mi loop that was extremely muddy and wet because of a spitting ran that lasted till about 4p.m. From the start it was a sprint into a winding section through some large spruce trees, on a relatively dry section. After corralling through that it was into a short straight that cut a hard left then right and dumped you onto the beach. Off the beach it was a couple more tight flat switchbacks, a dip through what looked like part of the lake, and into the woods. The woods looked deceivingly dry up a short climb, but as soon as you crest it’s a dive into a literal mud pit and a hard right. ‘S’ out of the woods, long straight, and then a big ‘S’ into two barriers that looked impossible to conquer when glued to the earth by mud. A few more wide spaced switchbacks and it was the home stretch to the finish.

The conditions of the course produced some competitive racing that was great to witness. Check out the results here and enjoy a few photos of Men’s Cat3, Women’s Pro, and Men’s Pro. It was amazing how the level of racing did not degrade as the course did. Hell, the sun even came out for Men’s Pro.” – Hunt Manley

Let me mention that Dan snagged 4th and it’s only his 2nd ‘cross race (he’s also racing on a d’Autremont ‘cross bike). See all the results here. There are a ton of photos that Hunt shot below (click for hi-res)!